Chapter 6
CHAPTER 6
Izzy
The long, golden rays of the setting sun bathed the beach house in a warm glow as Izzy and Pete stood alone on the deck. Maggie and Kiera were calling their kids while Danica finished up dinner. She'd fired them as sous chefs after Pete had sliced the cherry tomatoes incorrectly. Pete leaned against the railing, her cheeks sunburnt, her fingers idly tracing the weathered wood, while Izzy swirled her glass of wine, her gaze fixed on the horizon.
“What were you and Kiera so heatedly discussing at the beach earlier?” Pete asked.
“Just the usual. She said she’s trying not to screw things up again, which is just…” Izzy let out a long exhale, shifting her weight from foot to foot.
“Kiera is definitely trying,” Pete said after a long pause, her voice low but deliberate. “You can see that, right?”
Izzy sighed, setting her glass down on the railing. “Trying doesn’t erase what she did. She invited Eddie to Telluride after they’d already broken up. Who does that?”
Pete’s jaw tightened, and she glanced toward the sliding glass door. “I’m not saying it wasn’t messed up. Believe me, I’ve had my own share of choice words about it. But Danica wants to move past it. So I’m… following her lead. I love that you’re my tiny bodyguard but it’s okay. You can calm the ferocity down.”
Izzy turned, crossing her arms as she studied Pete’s profile. “She didn’t just hurt you and Danica. Her meddling ruined the trip.”
“Meddling,” Pete snorted in amusement. “You sound like Maggie.”
Izzy chewed her lower lip.
Pete’s voice pitched lower. “What else is going on?”
Izzy hesitated, her fingers curling around the edge of the railing. “Nothing.”
Pete watched her with a bored expression. “Mmhmm. Sure. Spill it.”
Izzy rolled her shoulders. “Fine. You know, back in college, when we kissed, I thought maybe… I don’t know. I thought there could have been more to it. But I never let myself believe it. And then in Telluride there were a few times we were alone, skiing or on the lifts or at the house, and it seemed like... I don't know. It's stupid."
Pete turned to her, an eyebrow arching. “Isabel Tierney, have you been harboring feelings for a straight woman all this time? You saucy little minx."
“No,” Izzy said quickly, shaking her head. “Not feelings. Just… She's...” She ran a hand through her short hair, tapping her Chacos against the railing. "Straight."
“And newly-divorced.”
“Yep.”
“And a mom.”
“Pete, I get it,” Izzy said with an eye roll.
“So what I’m saying is, she’s definitely your type,” Pete said with a small grin.
Izzy raised her eyebrows. “My type? Do you mean, complicated?”
Pete tilted her head. “I was going for: completely unavailable and thus unable to ever get close enough to see you, much less hurt you.”
“Fucking ouch,” Izzy scoffed, rubbing at her sternum, where she felt the invisible wound of Pete’s words.
Pete’s grin returned, softer this time. “Hey, at least she’s single now. You know, if you wanted to test that theory.”
Izzy snorted, rolling her eyes. “You’re very annoying.”
“I’m just saying,” Pete said, holding up her hands in mock surrender. “Stranger things have happened.”
Izzy’s gaze drifted back to the ocean, her thoughts swirling as the waves lapped against the shore. “Did you know the ocean contains more bacteria than there are stars in the universe?”
“Well, that’s terrifying,” Pete commented off-handedly. “Don’t think you can just tell me ocean facts to distract me away from all of your weirdness, though.”
“Did you know there’s an underwater waterfall between Greenland and Iceland?” Izzy tried.
Pete paused at that, her eyes narrowing in skeptical interest. “How?” she asked slowly.
Izzy stifled her grin. She’d won this time. Even as she explained the Denmark Strait cataract, which was just weird enough that she’d fallen down a very long rabbit hole researching it. Even as she was describing the temperature differences that made the waterfall possible, she knew Pete was mentally noting that they needed to return to why Kiera had gotten under Izzy’s skin so badly, and worse — why she’d stayed there.
She couldn’t stop herself from wondering what might have been if she’d been braver back in college, if she hadn’t dismissed their kiss as a fleeting, meaningless moment. There had always been something about Kiera that tugged at her in ways she didn’t fully understand, something warm and solid that Izzy found herself drawn to despite everything. She was too protective over Pete to forgive Kiera so easily. but that didn’t stop the ache of wondering that threatened to unravel her resolve to ignore whatever feelings were floating to the surface.
The group sat around the dining table, finishing up another of Danica’s masterfully prepared meals. Tonight’s dinner was a summer salad with grilled tofu, the bright pops of fresh veggies complementing the bohemian dinnerware Maggie had found in one of the kitchen cabinets. It wasn't as spicy as Danica normally made her food, which was a small mercy.
Pete leaned back in her chair, rubbing her stomach with exaggerated satisfaction. “Wendell, you’ve outdone yourself. Again.”
“I’m just trying to make sure we don’t all live off chips and salsa this weekend,” Danica said with a smirk, lifting her glass of wine to her lips.
“What’s wrong with chips and salsa?” Maggie asked, frowning.
“Nothing, unless it’s the only thing you’re eating for three days,” Danica shot back.
Izzy half-listened, swirling the last of the wine in her glass. The conversation ebbed and flowed easily among the others. Her gaze flitted to Kiera, who was seated at the far end of the table. With rosy cheeks from the wine, Kiera laughed freely, playfully chiding Pete for her earlier wipeout.
Maybe it was the talk with Pete, or her confession about always wondering, but there was something disarming about Kiera in this moment. Something Izzy hadn’t allowed herself to really see in a long time. Kiera’s laugh was warm and genuine, and her ease with Danica and Maggie was a welcome change from how awkward she’d been before.
Izzy had been so focused on holding onto her grudge, on keeping Kiera at arm’s length, that she’d failed to notice how different Kiera seemed now after her divorce. Or maybe Kiera had always been this way, and Izzy had been too stubborn to fully realize it.
“Izzy,” Pete said, breaking into her thoughts. “You’re awfully quiet over there. Something on your mind?”
Izzy resisted the urge to throw Pete the middle finger and quickly schooled her expression. “Just enjoying the food. Thank you for always feeding us, Danica."
Danica smiled, clearly pleased. “Of course. I'm glad you like it! I'm just very good at following a recipe."
“You don’t give yourself enough credit,” Kiera said, her tone light but sincere. Danica waved off their compliments, leaning into Pete, who kissed her temple.
"I have to agree with Kiera on this one, babe. You're an amazing cook, just like how you're amazing at everything," Pete said, beaming.
Izzy’s gaze shifted to Kiera, catching sadness in her expression as she looked down into her wine.
Maggie glanced toward Izzy, then followed her gaze to Kiera. “You feeling okay, Kiera?" Maggie asked.
Kiera glanced at Maggie, her brow furrowing in surprise. “Yeah, of course. Why?”
Danica put a hand on Kiera's arm. “You’ve been going through a lot.”
Kiera’s expression softened as she glanced around the table. “Oh, we don’t have to do this.”
“Come on, spill it. We want divorce details,” Maggie prodded. “I haven’t seen you since you kicked Alex to the curb and I’m dying to know what happened.”
Kiera’s eyes remained guarded. “It’s been a process,” she said carefully. “Alex didn’t contest the divorce, and he’s barely seen the girls since we moved to Denver. Honestly, it really fucking sucks. Divorce has really made me feel like I’m starting completely over, and I hate that.”
The sentiment struck closer to home than Izzy cared to admit, reminding her of late night arguments with Paisley about priorities, about how Izzy always seemed to drift through life already halfway out the door. Kiera’s quiet strength in admitting her struggles felt almost like a mirror.
“That’s one way to put it,” Izzy said, reaching for her water glass. “It’s like being thrown into a blender and hoping you come out as a gut biome-friendly smoothie instead of a disaster.”
As everyone laughed, Kiera glanced at Izzy again, her smile almost shy. “I’m just trying to get through it. One day at a time.”
Izzy nodded. Unexpectedly, she felt a desire to show compassion and understanding. Kiera was hurting, and Izzy suspected that she'd been hurting for much, much longer than she'd let on. From what Izzy had heard, Kiera's ex-husband had been cheating for a while, and Kiera had already known about the affair when they were in Telluride.
Kiera’s gaze lingered on Izzy for a moment.
Danica cleared her throat, breaking the silence. “Alright, who’s up for dessert? I picked up some ice cream sandwiches and I am dying to dig into them.”
A mischievous grin spread across Pete’s face. "I've got a better idea."